Scottish Executive

Drug Misuse

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug offences were committed in each of the last five years, broken down by sheriff court district.

Cathy Jamieson: The information available centrally on drug offences recorded by the police relates to unitary authorities. Information for each of the last five years is given in the following table:

  Drug Crimes Recorded by the Police by Council Area, Scotland, 1999 to 2003

  

 
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003


 Aberdeen City
 1,617
 1,334
 1,550
 2,071
 1,689


 Aberdeenshire
 717
 724
 787
 757
 741


 Angus
 458
 306
 401
 489
 520


 Argyll and Bute
 372
 450
 389
 512
 584


 Clackmannanshire
 232
 234
 295
 351
 336


 Dumfries and Galloway
 700
 448
 649
 775
 919


 Dundee City
 738
 707
 904
 1,167
 1,307


 East Ayrshire
 773
 787
 785
 950
 910


 East Dunbartonshire
 284
 318
 465
 460
 479


 East Lothian
 208
 340
 217
 507
 371


 East Renfrewshire
 312
 428
 342
 296
 316


 Edinburgh, City of
 2,927
 2,858
 3,118
 3,863
 3,008


 Eilean Siar (W.Isles)
 83
 47
 112
 94
 93


 Falkirk
 680
 624
 844
 831
 882


 Fife
 1,508
 1,248
 1,645
 1,944
 1,804


 Glasgow City 
 7,791
 8,845
 9,388
 9,330
 10,100


 Highland
 1,296
 926
 1,370
 1,434
 1,605


 Inverclyde
 769
 901
 995
 1,145
 1,040


 Midlothian
 326
 402
 404
 444
 378


 Moray
 288
 261
 261
 324
 355


 North Ayrshire
 721
 845
 872
 1,054
 1,041


 North Lanarkshire
 2,175
 1,817
 2,197
 3,105
 2,960


 Orkney Islands
 58
 29
 27
 41
 64


 Perth and Kinross
 784
 611
 745
 959
 1,071


 Renfrewshire
 1,198
 1,073
 1,224
 1,212
 1,205


 Scottish Borders
 719
 733
 661
 647
 618


 Shetland Islands
 95
 82
 98
 87
 80


 South Ayrshire
 752
 537
 896
 992
 722


 South Lanarkshire
 1,482
 1,512
 1,864
 1,733
 2,397


 Stirling
 385
 427
 838
 735
 727


 West Dunbartonshire
 515
 712
 666
 941
 1,114


 West Lothian
 907
 865
 1,166
 1,129
 1,029


 All Scotland
 31,870
 31,431
 36,175
 40,379
 40,465

European Union

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why it did not inform the European and External Relations Committee of the plans by the European Union to establish a defence agency in the letter from the Minister for Finance and Public Services to the committee of 7 June 2004, which states that, outwith the agencies created during the December 2003 European Council, "we do not currently expect any new additional Agencies to be proposed in the near future. We will nevertheless monitor this closely and keep the Committee fully informed."

Mr Tavish Scott: The Defence Agency was not mentioned in the letter of 7 June 2004 from the Minister for Finance and Public Services, as that letter was a response to a letter dated 31 March from the Committee, which asked for "further information on agencies not yet established and for whom the issue of location has not yet been agreed".

  The establishment of a Defence Agency was agreed in principle at the June 2003 European Council; this was given final political agreement at the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 14 June 2004. As stated in the reply to parliamentary questions S2W-9073 on 7 July 2004, it was agreed at an early stage that the Defence Agency should be established in Brussels. Therefore there was no opportunity for the agency to be located in Scotland.

Firearms

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-16169 by Mr Jim Wallace on 14 June 2002, how many crimes and offences involving firearms were recorded in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is given in the following table:

  Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police in Scotland in which a Firearm was Alleged to have Been Used, 1998-99 to 2002-03

  

 
 Financial 
  Year


 1998-99
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03P


 Crimes and offences involving 
  firearms 
 1,066
 982
 970
 1,000
 979



  PProvisional.

Justice

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8395 by Cathy Jamieson on 10 June 2004, how many warrants in respect of this category are included in the number of warrants outstanding given by Cathy Jamieson in the answer to question S2W-7167 on 22 April 2004.

Cathy Jamieson: Strathclyde Police advise that, as at end-June 2004, there were 21 Refusal of Appeal Warrants outstanding (where an appellant on bail has had their leave of appeal refused and the sentence was one of imprisonment, and as a consequence, a warrant was issued to apprehend and imprison the individual).

Public Private Partnerships

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the outline business case costs were for the PFI/PPP initiatives undertaken (a) at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and (b) for the South Lanarkshire secondary schools refurbishment programme; what the actual costs of these initiatives are, and what the percentage difference is between these figures.

Mr Andy Kerr: In respect of part (a) the outline costs for the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary were £173.315 million. The actual cost in the Full Business Case was £180.923 million which is a percentage increase of 4.4%. The Full Business Case is available from the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 6950).

  Regarding part (b), South Lanarkshire Council’s schools PPP project is currently in procurement. The Full Business Case will not be available until financial close is reached, and then it will be made publicly available having due regard to any issues of commercial confidentiality. The costs of the PPP option set out in the Outline Business Case are a matter for the procuring body, but would not normally be published whilst the procurement is in progress.

  The cost of the PPP option is formally compared with a conventional procurement approach at both Outline and Final Business Case stages. The key test is an assessment of value for money of the PPP project which is carried out at both these stages i.e. the PPP option must still show value for money over the conventional option. All PPP projects have to be assessed for value for money before being able to proceed. Whole life costs and benefits, for example risk transfer, are taken into account for the length of the contract in order to show this. It is for the public sector body concerned to analyse outturn costs and to ensure that the project remains affordable at contract close.